SPJ News

SPJ Blogs: Newest Posts

Quill Headlines

Journalist's Toolbox

@SPJ_Tweets

Connect with SPJ

SPJ on Facebook

Upcoming Eventsand Deadlines

Become an SPJ Member

For more than 100 years the Society of Professional Journalists has been dedicated to encouraging a climate in which journalism can be practiced more freely and fully, stimulating high standards and ethical behavior in the practice of journalism and perpetuating a free press.

About the Foundation

Since its founding in 1961, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation has promoted excellence and ethics in journalism. The SDX Foundation is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization that supports the educational programs of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves the professional needs of journalists and students pursuing careers in journalism.

Excellence in Journalism 2015Sept 18-20, 2015 – Orlando

Excellence in Journalism is the national journalism conference of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association. Join us in September in Orlando for training, networking, workshops and more!

SPJ News

SPJ Blogs: Newest Posts

Quill Headlines

Journalist's Toolbox

@SPJ_Tweets

Connect with SPJ

SPJ on Facebook

Upcoming Eventsand Deadlines

Become an SPJ Member

For more than 100 years the Society of Professional Journalists has been dedicated to encouraging a climate in which journalism can be practiced more freely and fully, stimulating high standards and ethical behavior in the practice of journalism and perpetuating a free press.

About the Foundation

Since its founding in 1961, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation has promoted excellence and ethics in journalism. The SDX Foundation is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization that supports the educational programs of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves the professional needs of journalists and students pursuing careers in journalism.

Excellence in Journalism 2015Sept 18-20, 2015 – Orlando

Excellence in Journalism is the national journalism conference of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association. Join us in September in Orlando for training, networking, workshops and more!

Diversity CommitteeOn both chapter and national levels, SPJ provides an open forum for the discussion of diversity issues in journalism. This committee's purpose is to promote a broader voice in newsrooms across the country and expand the depth and quality of news reports through better sourcing. Its ongoing project is the compilation of experts — primarily women, gays and lesbians, people of color and people with disabilities — through the Society's Diversity Source Book. The Society's relevance to its member is based on inclusiveness.

Searching the Sourcebook
To search, check one or more of the topic boxes, then scroll down to the
bottom and click search.

You can limit your original search by state, minority voice or other
choices  but the more you limit the search, the fewer results you will get.

If you know the name or organization of the source you are seeking, fill in
any of the personal information blanks.

See the Diversity Toolbox for essays on how to make your work more inclusive
and for comprehensive links to other resources.

Diversity Committee Chair

April Bethea
Online Producer
The Charlotte ObserverE-mailBio (click to expand)
April Bethea is an online producer at The Charlotte Observer where she helps highlight, curate and create content for their website and other digital platforms. She joined the online team in 2013 after more than eight years as a reporter covering topics including county government, education, and breaking news.

Bethea is secretary of the Greater Charlotte SPJ chapter. She was a 2013 SPJ Diversity Leadership Fellow and a 2013 Ted Scripps Leadership Institute graduate. Nashville will be her third Excellence in Journalism conference.

Bethea also is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and served as president of its Charlotte chapter when it re-launched nearly a decade ago. She was a fellow this spring with the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism.

Outside of work, Bethea volunteers with Hands on Charlotte and enjoys attending local theatre productions when she can.

Tracy Everbach
Associate Professor of Journalism
University of North TexasE-mail

Sally Lehrman
Santa Clara University
Montara, Calif.E-mailBio (click to expand)
Sally Lehrman holds Santa Clara Universitys Knight Ridder  San Jose Mercury News Endowed Chair in Journalism and the Public Interest. Also an independent journalist, Lehrman specializes in covering identity, race relations and gender within the context of medicine and science. Her byline credits include Scientific American, Health, Salon.com, The New York Times, Nature, The Boston Globe and The DNA Files, the Peabody Award-winning documentary series distributed by National Public Radio. Lehrman is author of News in a New America, a fresh take on diversity in coverage and staffing, and served for a decade as national diversity chair for the Society of Professional Journalists. She was a 1995-96 John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University and is an Institute for Justice and Journalism Senior Fellow on race.

It's not easy to break into an unfamiliar community and find great sources on demand. If reporters develop some background first, they will be ready to hit the streets when they're on deadline. Here are some ways to learn more about community issues and develop a broader sector of possible sources.

Bring in the community or go to them.
Reporters can organize a meeting with people from communities they don't usually include in their stories. First, acknowledge that there may be some longstanding and legitimate problems with trust. Then ask these questions:

• What do you wish we covered more?
• What do you think we get wrong?
• What is the history of your community in this issue area? (For example, a Latino medical reporter could ask why so many African Americans distrust the medical system.)
• Who are a few leaders in your community?
• Pick up flyers and brochures from community organizations to find out what they do and what issues the community finds most compelling.

Go out and look around.
Encourage reporters to do at least one activity every week that takes them into another commu nity but that doesn't have anything to do with a story they're working. They could:
• Attend a cultural event.
• Go to church or another religious gathering.
• Go to a community meeting and just listen.
• Go to a professional networking meeting and talk to people.
• Go to a community barbeque or picnic.
• Volunteer for a day at a community center for elders.
• Go to an activist meeting for people with disabilities.
• Go to an exhibit that features transgender youth or a museum about African American history.
• Go to a coffeehouse or bar.
• Seek out voices beyond the self-appointed leaders in the community  they may not represent the community well.

Listen, read and learn.
Ask reporters to read more magazines and newspapers, and to listen to talk shows or music format stations that serve populations they want to learn about. They could:
• Subscribe to newspapers or magazines targeted toward the gay, black, Latino, or Asian or Asian American communities.
• Listen to a local bilingual station.
• Listen to a Christian evangelical station.
• Read the newspaper sold to you by a homeless person.
• Read poetry or fiction written by urban youth.

Ask the question.
Race, sexuality, gender and disability often are topics that we skirt around. Urge your reporters to spend some time with sources they are developing and to consider direct questions like this, even when demographics don't seem relevant to the story. The answers might push the story into interesting new places.
• Do you think your race or ethnicity (age, gender, religion, economic background, etc.) affects the way you think about this issue?
• As someone not of your community (race, ethnicity, gender, other) what do you think I might miss when reporting about this?

Pay attention to language.
Consider learning a new language if your area has a sizable community that speaks another language.

If the community is primarily immigrant and speaks English as a second language, develop a relationship with organizations that serve immigrants to open doors for you, ease fears and help with translation.

Be cautious in selecting interpreters when reporting a controversial issue or when your interpreters may have a stake in the story.